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There will be blood in the streets, quite literally, as a result of the insane
practice of changing the clocks biannually. On the 29th, we end Daylight
Wasting Time. This brainpower tip is sort of a double header on a single
theme. The first "header" addresses why smart people refer
to Daylight Wasting Time as Daylight Wasting Time, but members of
Congress call it Daylight "Savings" Time. The second "header"
addresses
preserving your mental capabilities through the biannual clock transitions.
Language as a tool of manipulation and control
We are constantly bombarded with "reverse language," which is designed to
give a positive image to something negative. It's a classic manipulation
technique, and it's very effective if you're not alert for it.
Perhaps you read Orwell's 1984? Or Fahrenheit 451 (not to be confused with
Michael Moore's fraudumentary that played on the name)? Orwell explored
this manipulative technique in his books, and Moore uses it in his fraudumentaries.
Here are some examples of "reverse language", followed by the actual
meaning:
- At the end of the day. I threw this in here, because I am so sick of
hearing this idiotic phrase. What it means: "Here comes a major dose of
useless commentary, which I felt I had to make because I either wasn't keeping
up with the conversation or am too constipated to produce an original
thought at this time."
- Cost control, corporate. Layoffs.
- Cost control, government. Cost increase due to additional paperwork
and regulations.
- Department of Homeland Security. Often referred to as Department
Homeland Stupidity, these are the folks who gave us the duct tape
fiasco. This is another government agency mired in turf wars,
inefficient mindsets, paperwork, and lack of clearly articulated
purpose. The result is predictable.
- Daylight Savings Time. Setting the clocks forward in the spring so
as to cause a loss of one hour of morning daylight all summer and
setting them back in the fall so it's still dark in the morning but now
dark an hour earlier in the evening. A side benefit is population
control, due to the higher level of traffic fatalities and industrial
deaths resulting from the sleep deprivation.
- Gun control. Also referred to as "facilitated violent crime." This
kind of irresponsible legislation merely provides improved working conditions for violent criminals.
A law cannot stop people from killing other people. It can only change who can
legally defend herself, himself, or his/her children.
- Immigration border fence. A $2 billion + waste of taxpayer dollars
that will accomplish nothing, while federal tax collectors turn people
out of their homes on fabricated tax debt charges to fund more such
stupidity. Some people are actually applauding this pathetic waste of
money, which just goes to show you that people can still appear to lead
normal lives, even with severe brain damage. Modern medicine is
wonderful.
- Municipal improvement project. A change in some curbing or other
nominal feature, with the purpose of increasing the property assessment
so a higher property tax can be collected without actually declaring a
tax increase. Retired people are increasingly "improved" right out of
their homes because they can't pay the government rent.
- Property tax. Rent. In the USA, nobody owns a house. Everyone rents
it from the government. If you doubt this, try not paying property tax
and you will see who owns your home. The same principle applies to
vehicle tax.
- Restructuring, corporate. Layoffs.
- Restructuring, government. New names for the same old useless
organizations.
- Revenue enhancement, corporate. Layoffs.
- Revenue enhancement, government. Yet another tax increase.
- Tax cut. A way for Congress to pass a stealth sales tax. A true tax cut
does not exist, unless it is accompanied by a spending reduction (at
least in the short term). The government borrows, thus increasing the
cost of capital to businesses--who pass those costs onto the consumer
through higher prices.
- Tax increase. Effectively, a wage cut. Normally targeted at the
working class.
Finally, here's one more. I put this one at the end of the list,
because some readers would stop if they saw it at the top. Please think
about this one. Don't read into it the normal emotional overtones. Instead,
think about what is actually being said.
- Abortion ban. Mandated abortion by coat hanger wire.
Why: You can't stop abortion, you can only change the method
by which it is done. I am not saying anything here about abortion
itself. Only that a ban on it simply changes the method of abortion.
That change
endangers the mother and any future children she may have. If you are
"pro life," then you necessarily must be "anti abortion-ban." That is
not the same as being "pro abortion." The use of "pro life" to mean "pro
abortion ban" is a gross misuse of language, because an abortion ban
actually costs lives. If you want to stop abortion, you can't ask the
government to do it. The outcome will not be what you intended--it will
actually be "anti-life."
Now, you can see that every one of these language abuses comes from
people who seek to control other people. And that, dear readers, is the
whole point of misusing words.
On the last one listed, I'll say the intent is not evil, but is simply
one of not understanding the consequences. That may or may not be the case.
But let's give the language-twisters on this one the benefit of the doubt.
For all of the others, we can assume either evil intent or profound
stupidity. As I find it hard to believe that much stupidity can be so
enduring, my opinion is there is evil intent behind these language misuses.
The cynicism with which most people greet "elections" would seem to
indicate
this is pretty much the prevailing view.
As Orwell pointed out, you can control people by controlling their
language. For that same reason, English rulers punished Irish people for
speaking Gaelic. The penalty was usually death by hanging, though death by
rape, bludgeoning, burning, and/or impalement were also used.
Language has power. Be alert to where this power is abused. Don't call
things by their "proper" name. Call them by their right name. The truth
shall set you free--intellectually, at least.
Costs of DWT
Daylight Wasting Time is arguably the worst "Hi, I'm from the government
and am here to help you" idea ever foisted on the public. It is
certainly among the most destructive and expensive. Arizona and Indiana do
not subject their citizens to this kind of abuse (except near Chicago), so it's not universal.
It's just accepted as "normal," when it should be the object of an intense
campaign to eliminate it.
Some of the "benefits" we "enjoy" as a result of this colossally stupid
government error include:
- A loss of an hour of daylight (returned to us at the end of DWT,
when it no longer is useful).
- Sleep deprivation, which is considered an act of torture and cruelty
if done to prisoners. What does that make us?
- A spike in the level of industrial accidents and fatalities for
three weeks following the clock change, due to item #2.
The biggest problem for us is that loss of sleep,
because it impairs our brains. I'll tell you more about that in a moment.
As Kansas is (for now) located in the Northern
Hemisphere, I'll ask our readers in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa,
and other places south of the equator to just allow for the NH-centric
references to the seasons. I'm not intending to insult or marginalize you by
talking in NH terms only. If your underwear is in a knot over that, here's
an excuse: I'm in good company. Bruce Simpson puts out a wonderful daily
(5 X/wk) column from New Zealand, and he's SH-centric. You can see his stuff at
http://www.aardvark.co.nz/. Sometimes, he rants worse than I do, but
it's always a good read.
[Note: If you would like to be insulted or
marginalized personally, that is now a service we offer. Just shoot me an
e-mail, detailing the kind of insult you would like to receive and how much
you are willing to pay for it. Reasonable offers will be accepted.].
This fall, we get back an hour of daylight, only to
discover that now it doesn't make any difference because we still go to work
in the dark (those who commute do, anyhow). If we'd had that hour during the summer, it would have been
helpful. Nothing we can do about that. This is the government doing things bassackwards as usual.
The traffic deaths, finger amputations,
electrocutions, and other "pleasures" resulting from trying to function on
even less sleep than normal are preventable. And the way to prevent them is
to take steps to prevent the staggering IQ loss that comes with insufficient
sleep.
Actual measurements of this loss are
profound--dropping by an order of magnitude or more is not uncommon. So, a
person of normal IQ may functionally be on par with someone who is legally
classified as mentally retarded. Think about this for a moment. It explains
the "senior moments," "brain farts," and even panic you have felt (assuming
you are somewhere among the estimated 80% of Americans who are chronically
sleep-deprived).
(Please don't ask me about my own embarrassing
moments).
You can find all kinds of information from various
sources, including the Sleep Institute, showing just how damaging being even
a little sleep-deprived is. As a yardstick, remember this: A person who is
20% sleep-deprived has the mental acuity of a person who is drunk. Now,
let's do the math.
Let's assume you are among the 80% of adults who needs
eight hours of sleep (some need more, some need less, teens need
significantly more). Don't automatically put yourself in the other 20% and
think you don't need eight. According to researchers, it's almost a given
that a person grossly underestimates the amount of sleep s/he actually
needs. If you think you are fine with 6 hours of sleep, there's a
nearly 100% chance that you actually need closer to 8 hours. The problem is your
judgment is too impaired by sleep loss for you to know the difference. So,
let's assume eight hours.
With the clock change that occurs when going from DWT
to standard time, you lose more than an hour of sleep. This is for
the simple reason that it's very hard to change the time of day at which you
fall asleep. So, you lose sleep on both ends, not just the one.
"But wait! I get to sleep in an hour later!" Oh,
really? If you are used to getting up at a specific time, guess what? You
are adjusted to that. If you are one of those people who sets an alarm (very
bad idea) and needs it to arise each morning (very bad situation), you still
aren't getting an extra hour of quality sleep--your body is anticipating
that stupid, jarring alarm that you should not be setting. It is trying to
wake up and stay asleep at the same time--moving you into a semi-sleep that
isn't all that beneficial.
When you first change the clock for DWT, you can lose
even more than an hour on each end. This is what sleep researchers are
finding (when people attempt to change their bedtimes), and it's very consistent.
Just to be conservative, let's say you lose only two
hours. That is a 25% sleep deprivation. This means you drive to work more
mentally impaired than if you were way
drunk, stagger through the day with that impairment, and then interact with
friends and family with your senses not actually intact. Is that any way to
live?
No, of course not. So, why do we do it? Quite simply,
members of Congress don't consider the consequences
of their legislation. This is partly because they are insulated from those consequences,
and partly because that's who they tend to approach everything. We
can't change members of Congress (not easily, anyways, due to the power of
incumbency and the assistance of the disinforming mass media) and we can't
boycott DWT, no matter how dangerous it is.
Preserving brainpower during DWT
You can prevent the bleary-eyed state of mental
dullness for yourself, thus ensuring there is one less drunk driver on the
road each morning and each afternoon (assuming you drive to/from work at those
times).
The key is gradual adaptation. Ideally, you would
start adapting now. It takes about three weeks to reset your internal clock.
Make small changes in the days leading up to it, and continue after the
clock change passes. Instead of one big "jet lag," you suffer a series of
smaller ones. The alertness hit will be well within your safety zone, rather
than making you dangerous.
This is akin to drinking a bottle of vodka in equal doses
daily over six weeks, rather than all at once, before hopping behind the
wheel of your car. Which way do you think will leave you
less impaired?
If you want to experiment, do this.
- Brew a cup of coffee, and drink a sip--just a
sip--every morning until it's gone. Did you get a caffeine buzz? Nope.
- Now, brew up 10 cups of coffee. Then, drink them
all one right after the other. Did you get a caffeine buzz? Yep.
Note: Don't do this experiment if you are taking
any stimulants such as diet pills or decongestants, or are on any
medication. In fact, it's really not a good idea to drink that much coffee
at once. Just imagine this, and the point is made. Similarly, you do not
need to jump off a 10-story building to get the point that doing so is going
to have, shall we say, terminal effects..
Just start going to bed a little bit later
and sleeping a little bit later. If your schedule is such that there is no
extra time in the morning, then you'll need to wait until after the DWT clock
change. Stay on the early schedule--now an hour early--weaning from it gradually. Spread out
the time adjustment over 6 weeks. Make a small change, and then make another
small change a few days later.
You won't be at your sharpest if you do the gradual
adaptation approach. But the same can be said of you if you groggily slam
into the back of a stopped semi at 80 MPH because of a DWT-induced deep
mental haze. Most people would not emerge from such an encounter at all,
much less at their sharpest. |
